Port Elizabeth & Cape Peninsula areas
I recently made an all-too-short visit to South Africa for work – despite very limited free time I managed to visit Addo NP for a day and had an afternoon out between flights in Cape Town. Originally I had hoped to stay for another week to try Lesotho or Northern Cape to add to the mammals I saw in the west of the country in 2013, but work and home commitments prevented this. Luckily it’s such a great place for mammalwatching we still saw some goodies, even while ‘working’ (=bird surveys)! Details are in the below report.
Georgia via a stop in Istanbul next week – I think more birds are on the cards than mammals but I’ll report back if there are any interesting sightings.
cheers
Mike
11 Comments
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vdinets
You mean, the Republic of Georgia? It’s an excellent mammal-watching destination. I can give you a few tips if you’d like.
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Charles Foley
I thought I’d mention that if anyone is looking for Sharpe’s Grysbok in that area, you should try the grounds of the Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth. They have a nature trail where they are easy to see; I saw two on a short walk around mid-morning. I tried hard for this species in various other places including De Hoop and some of the other reserves in the area, but failed miserably, so I would try the University grounds first if you’re keen on seeing one.
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Charles Foley
Your point about confusion between Grysbok and Steenbok is a good one. Not only do the two species look pretty similar anyway, but the Steenbok on the coast are quite furry, making them even harder to distinguish, so you need to get a really good look at the animal in order to be sure of your id. I thought I’d seen a Cape Grysbok in Addo, but then the doubt set in and I had to scratch that record. Incidentally, someone told me that they’d seen Blue duiker in the early morning on the grounds of the Nelson Mandela University in PE, so if you timed it right you might be able to get both species at a go.
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Jon Hall
Nice work – especially on the Aardvark. Which is much more difficult to see than your track record suggests! How did you see the Dormouse – were you spotlighting, or trapping, or was it in a room? The only Dormouse I have seen in Africa got into bed with me (in Namibia)!